Coin-controlled device



Nov. 9, 1948. ,M. J. AUERBACH 2,453,398

COIN-CONTROLLED DEVICE Filed Jan. 17, 1945 6 SheetsSheet l I Nov. 9, 1948. J, AUERBACH I 2,453,398

COIN-CONTROLLED DEVICE Filed Jan. 17, 1945 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. MAURICE J AUERBACH.

NW, 9, 1948. M. J. AUERBACH COIN- CONTROLLED DEVICE Filed Jan. 17, 1945 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 I um .AURICE .1. AUZZ:

INVENTOR.

1948- M. .1. AUERBACH 53,392

COIN-CONTROLLED DEVICE.

' Filed Jan. 17, 1945 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 a Lanaaaamem vllllllllllllll willy/11111114 v INVENTOR.

47GMAURICE J.AUERBACH.

NW. 9, 1948. M. J. AUERBACH 2,453,33'9g COIN-CONTROLLED DEVICE Filed Jan. 17, 1945 6 She'ets-Sheet 5 9' INVENTOR.

MAURICE J.AUERBACH. am 0 Nov. 9, 1948. M. J. AUERBACH COIN-CONTROLLED DEVICE 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed Jan. 17, 1945 H Rm ma. NR E U A w E .K

Patented Nov. 9, 1948 l H H X I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COIN-GONT-ROLLED DEVICE aurice J, .Auerbac'h, Cleveland "Heights, 01110,, assignor to Standard Vendors, Inc, Cleveland, Ohio, a'corporation'of ohio i Application January 17, 1945., Serial .No. 573,227

Il'Claim. (Cl.194'58) This .inventionyrelates, as indicated, to coin Fig. :7 is a cross-sectional view, on an enlarged controlled devices, but has reference more parscale, taken on the line '1-1 of Fig. :6; t-icu-larly :to a, eoinw m n l t lacking Rig. 8 is :a cross-sectional view, taken on the device for vending machines, more especially. Linea-801mg. 4;; cigarette vending machines, v 5 Sis an eleva'tional view of; one face lo! the A primary object of the invention is toprovide central ,plate of the coin chute m m a device of the character described having a coin ig- 0.13 a view similar to b t ShD IE chute member which is normally rreta-ined lin t e r S de f 311 e t 21 1 3 locked position by two sets of llatch or Blocking Fig. 11 is a view of the outside :face of the i fingers, one setdisposed rearwardly of :t-he other, Side o 1" :plate .of the coin chute me be so that double assurance is had against =un- Fig-liaise view similar to 1: m

authorized attempts to .move the chute-members the outside face of a h i cover pl te' f the Another object of .the (invention is :to zprovi-de coin chute member;

a device of the aha-meter described which may Fi 13 s a w m o but beroperatediby one or the other of a plurality 20f h posit-i011 of certain parts M the i -69 difierent selected coin combinations trolled device at the beginningmf the acisarette- Another object of the invention is to provide P e ejecting meration;

a device of the character described in which pro- Fig. .14 is a view similar to 4, M1 flfl vision is made for the return to the oper t f the position offcertainparts of thelcoin-contnolled any excess or surplus coins which may have been device at the beginning of ciga i tte muse deposited in the machine. ei f ing oper tion, and

A further object of the invention is to provide :Fie'. 1'5 is a viewzsiicw a fipflmfi e a device of the character described finzwhich profunctilming position of the latch fin ers. vision is made' for operation :01 the device with mew-111g moire pa t cularly o the drawings a smaller number of coin combinations than is and m 1 3 Figs. Li? :and it wil be normally required for such operation. n that a cigarette vending m nm e. 191 51 i A still further object of the invention is to pr-opaitmmafly a'damed to have the iwinflpmied vide 'a device of the character described, conslstlatch and locking @msfim film-$115011 ing of a minimum number of easily *man'ufacinclll'lpvmted the-118m \compllises Tfmmfi hired and readfly assembled pamsfwmpacflyap 80 is adapted to support a horizontal 101? of Weranged in a single housing, can be easily Zines receptacles Bach xwepbade installed in a vending machine, an *EBIS'HYJEC- t0 m a stack of the articles lbellusmdr cessible 'place in such machine. show-n in i thfis instance as packages .3 of #18388;-

Other objects and advantages of the invention EW will 36 app al-em during the course of the =i'o'll ow- 35 a ltlredregeptaclfs '2 s m i d at ing escrip ion, rear 1- ereo :an a fracen its lower end :-a

I the-accompanying drawings, f rmin a part door or closure 1, which is normally disposed of this specification, and in which like numerals vel'liically, Which 'mvunied M are employed to designate like parts throughout to permit Swinging of the Same rearwarm? whim the Same one of the packages '3 is ejected through the F 1 is a fragmentary perspective View of v opening 5 at the "lower rear portlon of the recigarette vending machine, such as is especially 'ceptaclm adapted for the incorporation therein of thecoinframe I is stafimngmy mounted {the controlled device of the present invention; M f machine, an a p 'sp fl a Fig. 2 is '3 fragmentary'vi'ew,'part1y in section gl i recess i wmch islmqunted and partly 1n elevation, showing a portion of a P710113? 9 R handles "9 designed {for cl'garette vvending machine with the bomwom use in electing packages afrom' the receptacles i. glolled device 'of the present invention mounted 2 if 23 rgciprgml erem; move en re a way o' e recess an sac is Fig 3 is a fragmentary crosksectmnm View provided with 'a longitudinally "extending slot '9 taken on the line of Fig. glllflggl'l villi-loll a SUtJP-IOG or bar 10 extends, this Fig. 4 is a fragmentary side elevational'view of at eslugned' mf handles from theh-tcoingzontgolled device, \as viewed from the rig machine and has the ends thereof mozniteddh tr 5135a d?" iii end 'elevatmn of the the machine in such :a manner as to #permit the Fig 6 is a side elevational vi bar t? b Inc/wed forwardly from the i l ew of the reverse position shown in Rig. 3 to l'the -.dotted line :pociside of thecoin-controlled ldevicefzom ithatseen tlm, when such movement as permitted by the in Fig. 4; 1 W coin-contained device to be here'inafterdescribed;

The bar it is normally returned to the solid line position Jam-means of. springs .(not shown).

Pivotally ,con'necte'dto each of the pull handles 8 adjacent its rear end is a lever H having an ejector head E2, the lower end of the lever being pivoted as at 13 to a bearing 14, which, in turn, is rigidly secured to the apron or skirt 15 which forms a part of the frame I.. A pivot pin l6,

.two horizontally-spaced rows of vertically-spaced "openings substantially rectangular openings, the

aop'eningsain the front row being designated 40a,

, 40b, 40c and 40d, while those in the rear row which connects the lever H to the handle, 8

movable in a vertical slot I! in the handle, which slot is provided to accommodate the change in the point of pivotal connection between'the hanin alignment respectively with the openings 31a,

dle and lever occasioned when the handle 8. 1s

pulled forwardly.

When it isdesired to eject a package from one of"the"receptacles 2, the necessary coins are deposited in the machine, permitting the handle for'that receptacle to be moved to the position indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3 and causing the lever"l l to be moved to the position likewise indicated by the dottedlines, "the lever mOVr ing'jthrough slots I8 and i9 in-the frame and through a slot 28 in the lower end of therec'e'ptacle." Incidental to this movement, the ejector head l2 lifts @11 the packages in the r'ice iitaclej-'but after such head has moved to the dotted'line position in Fig.3, the packages are dropped to a lower position in the receptacle. lilponpushingthe handle 8 inwardly, the various parts are restored to their initial position, as

shown by the-solidlines, and 'the ejector head l2, incidental to its return to such'initial position; forcibly ejects'the'lower-most of the packages 3 through the opening 0,-as indicated'in Fig. 3, the package" swinging the door 4 outwardly.

' The ejecting mechanism, as thus described, is

similar. to 'thatishown and described in my copending patent application, Serial No. 505,600, filed Qctober 9', 1943, now Patent. No. 2,399,612, to which reference may be had fora, fuller de-' .s'cription'thereofi Thepresent in'ventionis concerned more particularly with "a coin controlled device for controlling the movement of the ,bar ID. to permit operation of. one. .or the. other of the handles 8 for ejecting cigarette packages from the machine.

are'designated Md, Mb, Me and Md. The openings' 40%..481), 40c and 40d are in alignment respectively 'withthe openings 36a, 36b, 36c and 3Bd,and' theope'nings Ma, Mb, Me and Md are 3112, 31c and 31d.

Secured to the outer face of the wall 26 is a row of vertically spaced brackets42having horizontally-disposed flanges 43 'through whichspaced shafts 44 and 45 extend, and in which such shafts are securedagainst vertical displacement as by means of nuts 46 secured to their lower'threaded ends. 5

Pivotally secured to the shaft Ml immediately below thefianges 43 is a series of latch fingers ll-such fingers being retained. against displacement, axially of the shaft, by means of spacer bars 48 which interconnect the shafts 44 and 45, and by: means of tubular spacer elements 49 mounted'on the shaft 44 between the spacer bars 48 and the flanges 43'of the brackets 42. 'Piv'otally secured to the shaft 45immediately' below the flanges. 43 is a series of latch fingers 58, which are retained against displacement axially .of .the shaft by means of the spacer bars 48 and tubular spacer elements 50a mounted on the shaft 145 between the spacer bars 48, and the flanges 43 of the brackets 42.

The latch fingers 50 are normally maintained in the openings Ma, Mb, Me and Md by means of tensionsprings 5| which interconnectthe fingers with the brackets 42, and each of the fingers-50 is provided with a heel extension 53 against which the heelportions 41a of the fingers 'Such'coine-controlled device or mechanism includes a housing. generally indicated by numeral 2| preferably made as a die casting, and having ears .22jwherebythe housing may be removably. secured, asyby means of screws 23, to one of the side war-11524 of'the vending machine, preferably theright side Wall, as viewed from the front of the machine. --Thehousing 2i comprises spaced inner and outer; wa;lls -25 and 25, respectively, and a top wall 21 having slots 28 and 29 therein for the reception-of coins, the slot 28 in this instance being; designed for the reception of dimes and the-slot 29 for the reception of 'nickels. The walls 25 and 26 are, spaced apart at the bottom by means ,of a relatively short bottom wall 30; and-by a; coin separator-member 3I,,-which is secured to the wallsv 25 and 26, as by meansof a; screw. 32 andnut 33.- A coin'return chute-34 issecuredasby screws 35, to the lower edge of the wall26 of thehousing. Thelinner .wall 25 is provided with two hori-' aontally-spaced rows of vertically-spaced substantially-rectangular openings, the openings in the frontrow being designated 36a, 3Bb,'36c.and 36d, while those in the rear row are designated 31.a,.;3'lb,' 31c and :Sld. The opening 36b come municates at one end with a horizontal slot '38, and'directly below this slot below thelevel. ofthe 41 bear .in such a manner that when the fingers 41 are. lifted from the openings 49a, 40b, 40c and 4012, they cause the fingers. 553 to be simultaneously lifted from the openings Ma, Mb, Mo and Md against the tension of the-springs 51.

The coin-operated device furtherincludes a coin chute member mounted for reciprocal movement in the housing 2 I, and generally designated by the reference numeral 54, such chute member comprising a central plate 55, preferably made as a die casting, and cover plates 55 and 51 preferably of steel.

The central plate 55 has formed in its outer face aforward chute 58 and a rear chute 59, these chutes having a common entry opening 60, which isin registry with the nickel slot 29. The chutes 58 and 59 are separated from each other bya rib or partition 59a. The plate 55 has formedinits inner face a forward chute BI and rear. chutes '62'and 63, the chutes iii and 62 having a common entry opening 64 which is in registry with the dime slot 28. The chuteslii and 62 areseparated from each other by a rib or'partition 6211, while the chutes 63' and 6| are sepa: rated from each other by a rib or partition 63a. The central plate is further provided with rectangular, openings 65a, 65b, 65c and 65d, which are respectively-aligned with the opening 49a, 40b,

. 40c and 40d, in the housing wall 26, and with rectangular openings 65a, 66b, 66c and 66d, which are respectively aligned-with the 'openings 45:21,

' M2), M0 and Md in the housing wa1l'26. A-horizontal slot 61 extends between the openings'55b and "66b and is in registry with the slot '38 in the housing wall 25.

The plate 55 has also pivotallysecured thereto, as by means of screws 63, levers 59 and 10, which, in their normal position, bear against pins 1!, which extend from the plate 55, the levers having vertical portions which in their normal position straddle openings in the plate, the lever 69 straddling the openings 65a and B52), and the lever straddling the openings 65c and 65d. The radius of travel of pivoted levers 69 and 1B is less than the linear distance between rib 62a-and pivot joint 68, or rib 53a and pivot joint 68,respe'ctively, thereby permitting unobstructed pivotal movement of the levers.

The cover plate 56 is provided with openings 12a, 12b, 12c and 12d which are in alignment with the openings 65a, 85b, 55c and 65d, respectively, in the plate '55; with openings 13a, 13b, 13c and 13d which are in alignment with the openings 68a, 66b, 66c and 66d, respectively, in the plate 5 5, and with a slot 14 which extends between the opening 121) and 13b and is in registration with the slot 61 in the plate 55.

The cover plate 5] is provided with openings 15a, 15b, 15c and 15d which are in alignment with the openings 65a, 85b, =65c and 55d, respectively, in the plate 55 and with opening 16a, 16b, 15c and 16d which are in alignment with the openings 86a, 66b, iitc and 5611, respectively, in the plate 55.

The device further includes a bracket 11 which is slidably mounted on the inner wall of the housing, and is provided with flanges 18 and 19 forming coin rests, the flange 18 extending through the slots 38, 14 and into the slot 61, and the flange 19 extending through the slot 39 and to a point below the chutes 6! and '58. The bracket 11 is provided with elongated openings 80 and BI, through which pins 82 extend, the bracket being resiliently maintained in engagement with the wall 25 of the housing 2| by means of springs 83 which are interposed between washers 84 and 85, the washers 85 being retained on the pins 82 by means of cotter pins 86. A coil spring 81, which interconnects the wall 25 of the housing 2! and the bracket 1'], resiliently maintains the bracket in its normal position, and in such position, the pins 82 are disposed at the rear ends of the openings 89 and BI.

The assembly comprising the central .plate 55 and cover plates 56 and 51 has secured to its forward edge, as b screws '88, a plate 89 having a rectangular opening to therein, through which the stop rod or bar Hl extends.

It will also be noted that when the various parts of the device are in their normal position, the latch fingers 4.1 and 5!! are disposed in the various openings in the coin chute member and serve to lock such member against forward movement.

Having thus described the mechanical construct'ion of the coin-operated device, the operation thereof will be briefly described:

The device, in this instance, has been designed primarily for so-called 20ce-ntoperation, that is to say, the purchaser of a package of cigarettes will drop 20 cents into the machine, as two dimes, a dime and two nickels, or four nickels, and will receive the package of cigarettes, which will contain the necessary change in the form. of pennies or stamps, if the actual cost of the cigarettes ,is less than twenty cents.

If the purchaser desires to operate the machine with two dimes, he will deposit the dimes successively into the slot 28, the dimes falling thence through "the chute opening M. The first dime will fall into the chute 61 and will come to rest on the coin rest J8, being :l'o'osely positioned between the partition 62a and the vertical portion of the lever 59. The second dime will, upon striking the first dime, be deflected rearwardly :into the (chute 62 and be guided :by the curved rear wall of "said chute into the vlower portion of the chute 61., coming to rest upon the coin rest 19, being loosely positioned between the partition 63a the vertical portion of the lever 10. "The position of the two dimes on the coin rests 18 and 19 is clearly shown in Fig. 9.

With the coins thus positioned, the operator will, upon pulling one or the other of the pull handles 8., exert a forward pull on the stop rod m, causing the coin chute 54 to be likewise pulled forwardly a slight distance. Since the presence of the dimes prevents the :levers 69 and 10 from being swung rearwardiy, the levers will remain in theirnormal position, and'the vertical portions thereof will come into engagement with the latch fingers 41 Continued forward movement of the coin chute 54 and of the levers 6 8 and 11] causes these levers to swin the fingers 41 about their pivotal mountings and out of "the openings 65d, 65b, 65c and 65d. This, :in turn, causes the latch fingers 50 to be swung about their pivotal mount-- ings and out of the openings 66a, 66b, 66c and 66d. With the latch fingers 41 and 59 thus re tracted as clearly shown in dotted lines in Fig. '8 and in solid lines in .Fig. 13, there is no hindrance to the continued forward movement of the coin chute member 54, and consequently to the for-- ward movement of the .stop .rod t0. During such forward movement of the member '54, the latch fingers" slide on the outer surface of the hous ing wall 51. Since the rod to may be moved forwardly, the cigarettes may be elected in themanner already described.

When the coin chute member '54 has been moved forwardly sufii-ciently to cause the dimes to :be removed from the supporting influence of the-coin rests 18 and 19, the dimes will drop into a suitable coin receivingor cash "box (not shown), being guided thereto by the 'coin separator 31.

The forward movement of the coin chute member '54 limited by the engagement of the rear ed e of the opening 561) with thecoin rest 18.

When the pull handle '8 is pushed inwardly, incidental to the operation of ejecting a package of cigarettes,suitable springs (not shown), cause the stop rod m to be retracted to its original position, thereby causing the 'coin :chute member 54 to be returned to its normal posit-ion. When such chute member is being returned to its normal position, the springs 5| act on the fingers 5'0, and the extensions 53 of the fingers '50 urge the fingers 41 to reenter the opening a, 65b, 55c and 65d. As the fingers 41 re-enter the slots 65, the fingers 50 are urged by action of the springs 51 into the openings 66 and the coin :chute 'is thus locked against unauthorized forward movement.

Should the operator deposit only one dime :in the machine, :it will be impossible :to pull the member 54 forwardly, since the lever 10 will swing rearwardly, and actuation of the two lower latch fingers 41 and 50 will not be possible before 50 engages the irearmost edge of slots 65c and 86d.

In Fig. 10, the operation of the device with four nickels is illustrated. In that :case, the operator will deposit four nickels successively into the slot 29, the nickels falling thence through the chute opening 60. The configuration of the coin channel above the slots is such as will direct the nickel into the chute 58 and it will come to rest on the coin rest 19, being loosely positioned between the partition 59a and the lowermost of the latch fingers 41. The second nickel will come to rest on the first nickel, being loosely positioned between the aforesaid partition and one of the fingers ii. The third and fourth nickels will come to rest substantially in the position shown in Fig. 10, as the distance between the engaging edge of fingers 41 and the forward edge of partition 59a is only slightly greater than the diameter of the coin. 7

With the nickels thus positioned, the operator 1 will, upon pulling one or the other of the pull handles 8, exert a forward pull on the stop rod 10, causing the coin chute member 54 to be likewise pulled forwardly a slight distance. Continued forward movement of the member 54 causes the nickels to engage the fingers 41 and to swing such fingers about their pivotal mountings and out of the openings 65a, 55b, 65c, and 6511. This, in turn, causes the latch fingers 50 to be swung about their pivotal mountings and out of the openings 65a, 66b, 66c and 66d. With the latch fingers 4! and 50 thus retracted, there is no obstruction to the continued forward movement of the coin chute member 5%, and consequently, to the forward movement of the stop rod [0.

When the coin chute member M has been pulled forwardly sufficiently to cause the nickels to be removed from the supporting influence of the coin rest 19, the nickels will drop into the coin-receiving or cash box, being guided thereto by the coin separator 3!.

Should the operator deposit any number of nickels less than four, it will be impossible to pull the member 54 forwardly since one or more of the latch fingers it! will not be engaged, and actuation of the corresponding latch fingers 50 will not be possible.

It will be apparent that operation of the device with two nickels and a dime can be readily accomplished in a manner similar to that already described. In such case, the dime will permit actuation of the two upper sets of latch fingers M and 50, and the two nickels will permit actuation of the two lower sets of such fingers.

The advantages of the present coin-controlled device will be readily apparent.

In the first place, the coin chute member is normally retained in locked position by four latch fingers, disposed one above the other, so that increased assurance is had against unauthorized attempts to move the chute member.

In the second place, the device consists of a minimum number of easily manufactured and readily assembled parts, compactly arranged in a single housing, which can be easily installed in a vending machine, in an easily accessible place in such machine. This is in contrast to other coincontrolled devices which while having one or more of the functions of the present device, are divided among several units which are installed at difference points in the vending machine.

Another advantage of the present device, is that if an excess number of nickels or dimes is deposited in the device, the excess coins will be returned to the operator through the chute 59 or 63, as the case may be, such coins falling through the coin return chute 34 into a receptacle, from which they are retrieved by the operator.

A still further advantage of the present device is that it is readily adapted for 5, 10, or 15 cent operation. If such operation is desired, one or more sets of the latch fingers 41 and 50 may be manually moved to an inoperative position, such as shown in Fig. 15. Such sets will be maintained in such position due to the fact that the point of engagement between the fingers 41 and 5B is inwardly of a line connecting the pivotal centers of these fingers, and the tension exerted by the spring 5| tends to maintain the fingers in such inoperative position.

Although the device has been described particularly in relation to its incorporation in a cigarette vending machine, it is to be understood that it may be used in connection with any other types of vending machine, or other machines in which coin-control of the machine is required.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention, herewith shown and described, is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of my invention, or the scope of the subjoined claim.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

In a coin-controlled device of the character described, a housing, coin rests mounted on said housing, a coin-positioning member adapted to receive a plurality of coins of two denominations slidably mounted in said housing, a vertical shaft mounted exteriorly of said housing, a plurality of vertically-spaced latch fingers mounted for pivotal movement about said shaft and having portions adapted to enter said housing rearwardly of said shaft and lock said coin positioning member against substantial forward movement, a sec-' ond Vertical shaft disposed forwardly of said first named shaft, a plurality of vertically spaced fingers mounted for pivotal movement about said second shaft and having portions adapted to enter said housing forwardly of said second shaft, levers disposed within said coin-positioning member and effective, upon the positioning of a selected combination of coins, to rotate said secondnamed fingers in the direction of movement of said c0inpositioning member, cooperating heel portions provided on said latch-fingers and said second-named fingers whereby partial rotation of REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date l,0l7,035 Fry Dec. 10, 1912 1,957,091 Block 1 May 1, 1934 1,970,005 Gilchrist et al Aug. 14, 1934 2,320,378 Neidig June 1, 1943 2,324,040 Stoner et a1 July 13, 1943 2,330,153 Steiner Sept. 21, 1943 

